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The Medical
Missionary
Manual
 
— Section five —
The Simple Remedies
- CHAPTER FIFTEEN -
WHY GOD HAS DIRECTED HIS PEOPLE
TO EMPLOY THE SIMPLE REMEDIES
RATHER THAN TO RELY
UPON PRAYER ALONE FOR HEALING
The blueprint for teaching obedience to God’s laws
and protecting ourselves from the miraculous
deceptions of Satan — through the use of simple remedies
SEVEN REASONS WHY GOD HAS DIRECTED US
TO USE THE SIMPLE REMEDIES
Does not God desire that we rely solely upon prayer
and faith in the ministry of Divine healing? Why employ the simple
remedies if we have prayed for healing and have faith to believe that,
if it be His will, He will answer our requests?
1 – BECAUSE WE ARE INSTRUCTED THAT IT WOULD BE
PRESUMPTIOUS TO ASK GOD FOR HEALING WITHOUT MAKING USE
OF THE REMEDIES HE GIVES US
We are to cooperate with God in the restoration of
the sick and the suffering to health.
"Those who seek healing by prayer should not neglect to make use of
the remedial agencies within their reach. It is not a denial of faith to
use such remedies as God has provided to alleviate pain and to aid
nature in her work of restoration. It is no denial of faith to cooperate
with God, and to place themselves in the condition most favorable to
recovery. God has put it in our power to obtain a knowledge of the laws
of life. This knowledge has been placed within our reach for use. We
should employ every facility for the restoration of health, taking every
advantage possible, working in harmony with natural laws. When we have
prayed for the recovery of the sick, we can work with all the more
energy, thanking God that we have the privilege of cooperating with Him,
and asking His blessing on the means which He Himself has provided.
"We have the sanction of the Word of God for the use
of remedial agencies. . . .
"On one occasion Christ anointed the eyes of a blind
man with clay, and bade him, ‘Go, wash in the pool of Siloam. . . . He
went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing.’ The cure could be
wrought only by the power of the great Healer, yet Christ made use of
the simple agencies of nature. While He did not give countenance to drug
medication, He sanctioned the use of simple and natural remedies."—Ministry
of Healing, 231-233.
"In praying for the sick, it is essential to have
faith; for it is in accordance with the Word of God. The effectual
fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.’ James 5:16. So we
cannot discard praying for the sick, and we should feel very sad if we
could not have the privilege of approaching God, to lay before Him all
our weaknesses and our infirmities, to tell the compassionate Saviour
all about these things, believing that He hears our petitions. Sometimes
answers to our prayers come immediately; sometimes we have to wait
patiently and continue earnestly to plead for the things that we need. .
. .
"This waiting does not mean that because we ask the
Lord to heal there is nothing for us to do. On the contrary, we are to
make the very best use of the means which the Lord in His goodness has
provided for us in our necessities.
"I have seen so much of carrying matters to extremes,
in praying for the sick, that I have felt that this part of our
experience requires much solid, sanctified thinking, lest we shall make
movements that we may call faith, but which are really nothing less than
presumption. Persons worn down with affliction need to be counseled
wisely, that they may move discreetly; and while they place themselves
before God to be prayed for that they may be healed, they are not to
take the position that methods of restoration to health in accordance
with nature’s laws are to be neglected.
"If they take the position that in praying for healing they
must not use the simple remedies provided by God to alleviate pain and
to aid nature in her work, lest it be a denial of faith, they are taking
an unwise position. This is not a denial of faith; it is in strict
harmony with the plans of God. When Hezekiah was sick, the prophet of
God brought him the message that he should die. He cried unto the Lord,
and the Lord heard His servant, and worked a miracle in his behalf,
sending him a message that fifteen years should be added to his life.
Now one word from God, one touch of the divine finger, would have cured
Hezekiah instantly, but special directions were given to take a fig and
lay it upon the affected part, and Hezekiah was raised to life."—Counsels
on Health, 380-382.
A list of water treatments and herbal preparations
for various difficulties is given: "There are many more simple remedies
which will do much to restore healthful action to the body. All these
simple preparations the Lord expects us to use for ourselves, but man’s
extremities are God’s opportunities. If we neglect to do that which is
within the reach of nearly every family, and ask the Lord to relieve
pain when we are too indolent to make use of these remedies within our
power, it is simply presumption."—2 Selected Messages, 297.
2 - BECAUSE PEOPLE MUST BE GIVEN AN OPPORTUNITY AND
TIME TO LEARN ABOUT THE PHYSICAL LAWS THAT GOVERN THEIR BEING
They must be taught the laws of health
"I saw that the reason why God did not hear the
prayers of His servants for the sick among us more fully was that He
could not be glorified in so doing while they were violating the laws of
health. And I also saw that He designed the health reform and Health
Institute to prepare the way for the prayer of faith to be fully
answered. Faith and good works should go hand in hand in relieving the
afflicted among us, and in fitting them to glorify God here, and to be
saved at the coming of Christ. . . .
"Let no one obtain the idea that the Institute is the place for them
to come to be raised up by the prayer of faith. This is the place to
find relief from disease by treatment, and right habits of living, and
to learn how to avoid sickness. But if there is one place under the
heavens more than another where sooth
ing, sympathizing prayer should be offered by men and
women of devotion and faith, it is at such an institute. Those who treat
the sick should move forward in their important work with strong
reliance upon God for His blessing to attend the means which He has
graciously provided, and to which He has in mercy called our attention
as a people such as pure air, cleanliness, healthful diet, proper
periods of labor and repose, and the use of water."—Counsels on
Health, 247.
3 – BECAUSE PEOPLE MUST BE GIVEN AN OPPORTUNITY AND
TIME TO LEARN WHAT IT IS THAT MADE THEM SICK
They must be taught exactly which laws they violated
"It is labor lost to teach people to look to God as a
healer of their infirmities, unless they are taught also to lay aside
unhealthful practices. In order to receive His blessing in answer to
prayer, they must cease to do evil and learn to do well. Their
surroundings must be sanitary, their habits of life correct. They must
live in harmony with the law of God, both natural and spiritual.
"To those who desire prayer for their restoration to
health, it should be made plain that the violation of God’s law, either
natural or spiritual, is sin, and that in order for them to receive His
blessing, sin must be confessed and forsaken."—Ministry of Healing,
227-228.
4 – BECAUSE THE PEOPLE MUST BE GIVEN AN OPPORTUNITY
AND TIME TO LEARN HOW TO RECOVER HEALTH
They must be taught the importance
of the simple treatments given by God
to cleanse the system and equalize the circulation
"As the work developed, we were instructed that
suitable places were to be provided, to which we could bring the sick
and suffering who knew nothing of our people and scarcely anything of
the Bible, and there teach them how to regain health by rational methods
of treatment without having recourse to poisonous drugs, and at the same
time surround them with uplifting spiritual influences."—Counsels on
Health, 469.
"Begin to do medical missionary work with the conveniences which you
have at hand. You will find that thus the way will open for you to hold
Bible readings. The heavenly Father will place you in connection with
those who need to know how to treat their sick ones. Put into practice
what you know regarding the treatment of disease. Thus suffering will be
relieved, and you will have opportunity to break the bread of life to
starving souls."—A Call to Medical Evangelism, 26.
"The Lord has given some simple herbs of the field
that at times are beneficial; and if every family were educated in how
to use these herbs in case of sickness, most suffering might be
prevented, and no doctor need be called. These old-fashioned, simple
herbs, used intelligently, would have recovered many sick who have died
under drug medication."—Letter 82, 1897 (written February 10, 1897).
"Gospel workers should be able also to give
instruction in the principles of healthful living. . . . Thousands need
and would gladly receive instruction concerning the simple methods of
treating the sick,—methods that are taking the place of the use of
poisonous drugs."—Ministry of Healing, 146.
"A great amount of good can be done by enlightening
all to whom we have access, as to the best means, not only of curing the
sick, but of preventing disease and suffering."—Counsels on Health,
451.
5 – BECAUSE THE PEOPLE MUST BE GIVEN AN OPPORTUNITY
AND TIME TO LEARN HOW TO MAINTAIN HEALTH
They must be taught simple methods
of healthful living and eating:
how to apply the principles
of God’s physical laws to their everyday needs and
problems
"When the light came that we should begin sanitarium
work, the reasons were plainly given. There were many who needed to be
educated in regard to healthful living. . . . As a part of the
treatment, lectures were to be given on right habits of eating and
drinking and dressing. Instruction was to be given regarding the choice
and the preparation of food, showing that food may be prepared so as to
be wholesome and nourishing, and at the same time appetizing and
palatable."—Counsels on Health, 469.
"In all our health institutions, it should be made a
special feature of the work to give instruction in regard to the laws of
health. The principles of health reform should be carefully and
thoroughly set before all, both patients and helpers."—Counsels on
Health, 452.
6 – BECAUSE SATAN WILL ATTEMPT TO COUNTERFEIT
RELIGIOUS FAITH HEALING
He will do this to draw attention
from God’s simple methods of removing sickness
"The magicians could not perform all those miracles
which God wrought through Moses. Only a few of them could they do. . . .
‘They cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents: but Aaron’s
rod swallowed up their rods.’ . . . The magicians seemed to perform
several things with their enchantments similar to those things which God
wrought by the hand of Moses and Aaron. They did not really cause their
rods to become serpents, but by magic, aided by the great deceiver, made
them appear like serpents, to counterfeit the work of God. . . .
"The magicians wrought not by their own science
alone, but by the power of their god, the devil, who ingeniously carried
out his deceptive work of counterfeiting the work of God. Moses, by the
power of God, had changed the rod to a living serpent. Satan, through
the magicians, counterfeited this miracle. He could not produce living
serpents, for he has not power to create or to give life. This power
belongs to God alone. But all that Satan could do he did—he produced a
counterfeit. By this power, working through the magicians, he caused the
rods to assume the appearance of serpents."—5 Testimonies, 696-697.
"It was by the display of supernatural power, in making the serpent
his medium, that Satan caused the fall of Adam and Eve in Eden. Before
the close of time he will work still greater wonders. So far as his
power extends, he will perform actual miracles. Says the Scripture: ‘He
. . . deceiveth them that dwell
on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do,’
not merely those which he pretends to do. Something more than mere
impostures is brought to view in this Scripture. But there is a limit
beyond which Satan cannot go, and here he calls deception to his aid and
counterfeits the work which He has not power actually to perform."—5
Testimonies 698.
"We are to be on guard against Satan’s deceptive
arts. He will take possession of human bodies, and make men and women
sick. Then he will suddenly cease to exercise his evil power, and it
will be proclaimed that a miracle has been wrought. We need now to have
a true understanding of the power of Jesus Christ to save to the
uttermost all who come unto Him."—Medical Ministry, 110.
"Fearful sights of a supernatural character will soon
be revealed in the heavens, in token of the power of miracle-working
demons. The spirits of devils will go forth to the kings of the earth
and to the whole world, to fasten them in deception, and urge them on to
unite with Satan in his last struggle against the government of heaven.
. . . Persons will arise pretending to be Christ Himself, and claiming
the title and worship which belongs to the world’s Redeemer. They will
perform wonderful miracles of healing, and will profess to have
revelations from heaven contradicting the testimony of the Scriptures.
"As the crowning act in the great drama of deception,
Satan himself will personate Christ. . . . The great deceiver will make
it appear that Christ has come. . . . His voice is soft and subdued, yet
full of melody. In gentle, compassionate tones he presents some of the
same gracious, heavenly truths which the Saviour uttered; he heals the
diseases of the people, and then, in his assumed character of Christ, he
claims to have changed the Sabbath to Sunday, and commands all to hallow
the day which he has blessed."—The Great Controversy, 624.
"Some will be tempted to receive these wonders as from God. The sick
will be healed before us. Miracles will be performed in our sight. Are
we prepared for the trial which awaits us when the lying wonders of
Satan shall be more fully exhibited? Will not many be ensnared and
taken? By departing from the plain precepts and commandments of God, and
giving heed to fables, the minds of many are preparing to receive these
lying wonders. We must all now seek to arm ourselves for the contest in
which we must soon engage. Faith in God’s Word, prayerfully studied and
practically applied, will be our shield from Satan’s power, and will
bring us off conquerors through the blood of Christ."—1 Testimonies
302.
7 – BECAUSE SATAN
WILL SEEK TO CAPITALIZE
ON THE SPECTACULAR
ELEMENTS
OF HIS "MIRACULOUS
HEALING ACTS"
He will do this in
order to lead the world
to reject the
promises and commands of God
"It is God that shields His creatures, and hedges
them in from the power of the destroyer. But the Christian world have
shown contempt for the law of Jehovah; and the Lord will do just what He
has declared that He would—He will withdraw His blessings from the
earth, and remove His protecting care from those who are rebelling
against His law, and teaching and forcing others to do the same. Satan
has control of all whom God does not especially guard. He will favor and
prosper some, in order to further his own designs; and he will bring
trouble upon others, and lead men to believe that it is God who is
afflicting them.
"While appearing to the children of men as a great
physician who can heal all their maladies, he will bring disease and
disaster, until populous cities are reduced to ruin and desolation. Even
now he is at work. In accidents and calamities by sea and by land, in
great conflagrations, in fierce tornadoes and terrific hailstorms, in
tempests, floods, cyclones, tidal waves, and earthquakes—in every place
and in a thousand forms—Satan is exercising his power. These visitations
are to become more and more frequent and disastrous. Destruction will be
upon both man and beast."—Counsels on Health, 460-461.
"Through spiritualism, Satan appears as a benefactor of the race,
healing the diseases of the people, and professing to present a new and
more exalted system of religious faith; but at the same time he works as
a destroyer."—Counsels on Health, 460.
"Satan is a diligent Bible student. He knows that his
time is short, and he seeks at every point to counterwork the work of
the Lord upon this earth. It is impossible to give any idea of the
experience of the people of God who shall be alive upon the earth when
celestial glory and a repetition of the persecutions of the past are
blended. They will walk in the light proceeding from the throne of God.
By means of the angels there will be constant communication between
heaven and earth. And Satan, surrounded by evil angels, and claiming to
be God, will work miracles of all kinds to deceive, if possible, the
very elect.
"God’s people will not find their safety in working
miracles; for Satan will counterfeit the miracles that will be wrought.
God’s tried and tested people will find their power in the sign spoken
of in Exodus 31:12-18. They are to take their stand on the living Word,
‘It is written.’ This is the only foundation upon which they can stand
securely. Those who have broken their covenant with God will in that day
be without God and without hope."—9 Testimonies, 16.
"The only hope of better things is in the education of the people in
right principles. Let physicians teach the people that restorative power
is not in drugs, but in nature. Disease is an effort of nature to free
the system from conditions that result from a violation of the laws of
health. In case of sickness, the cause should be ascertained.
Unhealthful conditions should be changed, wrong habits corrected. Then
nature is to be assisted in her effort to expel impurities and to
re-establish right conditions in the system . . .
"The use of natural remedies requires an amount of care and effort
that many are not willing to give. Nature’s process of healing and
upbuilding is gradual, and to the impatient it seems slow. The surrender
of hurtful indulgences requires sacrifice. But in the end it will be
found that nature, untrammeled, does her work wisely and well. Those who
persevere in obedience to her laws will reap the reward in health of
body and health of mind ."
—Ministry of Healing, 127
- CHAPTER SIXTEEN -
SPECIFIC PRINCIPLES
BY WHICH WE CAN KNOW
WHICH REMEDIES ARE "DRUGS"
AND WHICH ARE APPROVED OF GOD
The blueprint for identifying and differentiating
between "drugs" and "natural remedies"
EIGHTY-FIVE DEFINITIONS OF "DRUGS"
What, according to the Spirit of Prophecy, is a
"drug"? We are here dealing with a topic that was of great concern to
Ellen White during her lifetime. It ought to be a matter of great
concern to any of God’s people who wish to do true medical missionary
work. She received many visions in regard to the matter. In some
respects, the elimination of this problem is the reason Seventh-day
Adventists were called to found sanitariums and medical schools and
carry on a medical work. It is appropriate that at a time when very
little is said or written on this topic, that this unusually
comprehensive study should be published. It includes statements from the
currently available books, as well as from Healthful Living and
How to Live. But it does not incorporate the large amount of
material written in personal letters and now only available in
mimeograph studies, such as Loma Linda Messages.
If you will thoughtfully read this study, you may
never be the same again. The information contained herein, if put into
practice, may very well lengthen your life—and the life of a loved one.
And, in addition, it may help a young person to make a better choice, in
the consideration of a lifework.
1 – DRUGS ARE NOT THE MOST SIMPLE METHOD
"Our people should become intelligent in the treatment of sickness
without the aid of poisonous drugs. Many should seek to obtain the
education that will enable them to combat disease in its varied forms by
the most simple methods. Thousands have gone down to the grave because
of the use of poisonous drugs, who might have been restored to health by
simple methods of
treatment. Water treatments, wisely and skillfully
given, may be the means of saving many lives. Let diligent study be
united with careful treatments. Let prayers of faith be offered by the
bedside of the sick. Let the sick be encouraged to claim the promises of
God for themselves."—Medical Ministry, 227.
2 – DRUGS ARE THE
EASIER METHOD
"The question is, Will they preserve the principles
of hygiene [physical cleansing] or will they use the easier method of
using drugs, to take the place of treating diseases without resorting to
drug medication?"—Manuscript 22, 1887.
3 – DRUGS ARE THE
IMMEDIATE METHOD
"The use of natural remedies requires an amount of
care and effort that many are not willing to give. Nature’s process of
healing and upbuilding is gradual, and to the impatient it seems slow.
The surrender of hurtful indulgences requires sacrifice. But in the end
it will be found that nature, untrammeled, does her work wisely and
well. Those who persevere in obedience to her laws will reap the reward
in health of body and health of mind."—Ministry of Healing, 127.
4 – DRUGS TAKE
LESS WORK
"Make use of the remedies that God has provided. Pure
air, sunshine, and the intelligent use of water are beneficial agents in
the restoration of health. But the use of water is considered too
laborious. It is easier to employ drugs than to use natural remedies."—Healthful
Living, 247.
5 – DRUGS ARE THE
LAZY METHOD
"The first labors of a physician should be to educate the sick and
suffering in the very course they should pursue to prevent disease. The
greatest good can be done by our trying to enlighten the minds of all we
can obtain access to, as to the best course for them to pursue to
prevent sickness and suffering, and broken constitutions, and premature
death. But those who do not care to undertake work that taxes their
physical and mental powers will be ready to prescribe drug medication,
which lays a foundation in the human organism for a twofold greater evil
than that which they claim to have relieved. A physician who has the
moral courage to imperil his reputation in enlightening the
understanding by plain facts, in showing the nature of disease and how
to prevent it, and the dangerous practice of resorting to drugs, will
have an uphill business, but he will live and let live. . . . He will,
if a reformer, talk plainly."—Medical Ministry, 221-222.
6 – DRUGS ARE NOT
A NATURAL MEANS
"In treating the sick, the physician will seek God
for wisdom; then, instead of placing his dependence upon drugs and
expecting that medicine will bring health to his patients, he will use
nature’s restoratives, and employ natural means whereby the sick may be
aided to recover. The Lord will hear and answer prayers of the Christian
physician."—Healthful Living, 247-248.
7 – DRUGS ARE THE
FAITHLESS METHOD
"O how great are the possibilities that He has placed
within our reach! He says, ‘Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in My
name, He will give it to you.’ He promises to come to us as a Comforter,
to bless us. Why do we not believe these promises? That which we lack in
faith we make up by the use of drugs. Let us give up the drugs,
believing that Jesus does not desire us to be sick, and that if we live
according to the principles of health reform, He will keep us well."—Manuscript
169, 1902.
8 – DRUGS ARE
POISONS
"Our people should become intelligent in the
treatment of sickness without the aid of poisonous drugs."—Medical
Ministry, 56-57.
"Special instruction should be given in the art of
treating the sick without the use of poisonous drugs, and in harmony
with the light that God has given. In the treatment of the sick,
poisonous drugs need not be used."—9 Testimonies, 175.
9 – DRUGS ARE
POISONOUS MEDICINES
"When the abuse of health is carried so far that sickness results,
the sufferer can often do for himself what no one else can do for him.
The first thing to be done is to ascertain the true character of the
sickness, and then go to work intelligently to remove the cause. If the
harmonious working of the system has become unbalanced by overwork,
overeating or other irregularities, do not endeavor to adjust the
difficulties by adding a burden of poisonous medicines."—Ministry of
Healing, 235.
10 – DRUGS ARE
DEADLY POISONS
"The mother who has been but slightly indisposed, and
who might have recovered by abstaining from food for a short period, and
ceasing from labor, having quiet and rest, has instead of doing this,
sent for a physician. And he, who should be prepared to give a few
simple directions and restrictions in diet, and place her upon the right
track, is either too ignorant to do this, or too anxious to obtain a
fee. He makes the case appear a grave one, and administers his poisons
which, if he himself were sick, he would not venture to take. The
patient grows worse, and poisonous drugs are more freely administered,
until nature is overpowered in her efforts, and gives up the conflict,
and the mother dies. She was drugged to death. Her system was poisoned
beyond remedy. She was murdered."—2 Selected Messages, 441.
11 – DRUGS ARE
FOREIGN SUBSTANCES
OF A POISONOUS
NATURE
"The sufferers in many cases can do for themselves that which others
cannot do as well for them. They should commence to relieve nature of
the load they have forced upon her. They should remove the cause. Fast a
short time, and give the stomach a chance for rest. Reduce the feverish
state of the system by a careful and understanding application of water.
These efforts will help nature in her struggles to free the system from
impurities. But generally the persons who suffer pain become impatient.
They are not willing to use self-denial, and suffer a little from
hunger. Neither are they willing to wait the slow process of nature to
build up the overtaxed energies of the system. But they are determined
to obtain relief at once, and take powerful drugs, prescribed by
physicians. Nature was doing her work well, and would have triumphed,
but while accomplishing her task, a foreign substance of a poisonous
nature was introduced. What a mistake! Abused nature has now two evils
to war against instead of one. She leaves the work in which she was
engaged, and resolutely takes hold to expel the intruder newly
introduced into the system. Nature feels this double draft upon her
resources, and she becomes enfeebled."—4 Spiritual Gifts, 133-134.
12 – POISONOUS
DRUG PREPARATIONS
FROM THE VEGETABLE
OR MINERAL KINGDOM
"Every poisonous preparation in the vegetable and
mineral kingdoms, taken into the system, will leave its wretched
influence, affecting the liver and lungs, and deranging the system
generally. Nor does the evil end here. Diseased, feeble infants are
brought into the world to share this misery, transmitted to them from
their parents."—4 Spiritual Gifts 140.
13 – DRUGS ARE
POISONOUS MIXTURES
"Mercury, camomel, and quinine have brought their
amount of wretchedness, which the day of God alone will fully reveal. .
. . These poisonous preparations have destroyed their millions, and have
left sufferers upon the earth to linger out a miserable existence. . . .
Miserable sufferers, with disease in almost every form, misshapen by
suffering with dreadful ulcers and pains in the bones, loss of teeth,
loss of memory, and impaired sight, are to be seen almost everywhere.
They are victims of poisonous preparations, which have been, in many
case, administered to cure some slight indisposition, which after a day
or two of fasting would have disappeared without medicine. But poisonous
mixtures administered by physicians have proved their ruin."—4
Spiritual Gifts, 134, 139.
14 – DRUGS ARE
POISONS
AND LEAVE DEADLY
AFTEREFFECTS
"Nature’s simple remedies will aid in recovery without leaving the
deadly aftereffects so often felt by those who
use poisonous drugs."—Letter 82, 1908.
15 – DRUGS ARE
OFTEN MIXTURES,
POWERFUL IN THEIR
EFFECT,
THE NATURE OF
WHICH IS OFTEN UNKNOWN,
AND LEAVING BEHIND
INJURIOUS EFFECTS
"The endless variety of medicines in the market, the
numerous advertisements of new drugs and mixtures, all of which, as they
say, do wonderful cures, kill hundreds where they benefit one. Those who
are sick are not patient. They will take the various medicines, some of
which are very powerful, although they know nothing of the nature of the
mixtures. All the medicines they take only make their recovery more
hopeless. Yet they keep dosing, and continue to grow weaker, until they
die. Some will have medicine at all events. Then let them take these
hurtful mixtures and the various deadly poisons upon their own
responsibility. God’s servants should not administer medicines which
they know will leave behind effects upon the system, even if they do
relieve present suffering."—4 Spiritual Gifts, 139-140.
16 – DRUGS ARE
POWERFUL POISONS, THE NATURE OF WHICH IS NOT KNOWN BY COMMON PEOPLE
"When in distress, they send for the doctor,—and
trust their bodies in his hands, expecting that he will make them well.
He deals out to them drugs, the nature of which they know nothing; and
in their blind confidence they swallow anything that the doctor may
choose to give. Thus, powerful poisons are often administered, which
fetter nature in all her friendly efforts to recover from the abuse the
system has suffered; and the patient is hurried out of this life."—2
Selected Messages, 441.
17 – DRUGS ARE
PERNICIOUS
AND MAY BE GIVEN
BY PRESCRIPTION
"Every pernicious drug placed in the human stomach, whether by
prescription of physicians, or by man himself doing violence to the
human organism, injures the whole machinery."—Manuscript 3, 1897.
(The dictionary definition of "pernicious" is "very harmful or
destructive.")
18 – DRUGS MAY
BE DERIVED
FROM POISONOUS
HERBS
"Christ never planted the seeds of death in the
system. Satan planted these seeds. . . . Not one noxious plant was
placed in the Lord’s great garden, but after Adam and Eve sinned,
poisonous herbs sprang up. In the parable of the sower the question was
asked the Master, ‘Didst not Thou sow good seed in Thy field? From
whence then hath it tares?’ The Master answered, ‘An enemy hath done
this’ (Matthew 13:27-28). All tares are sown by the evil one. Every
noxious herb is of his sowing, and by his ingenious methods of
amalgamation he has corrupted the earth with tares. Then shall the
Physicians continue to resort to drugs which leave a deadly evil in the
system, destroying that life which Christ came to restore? Christ’s
remedies cleanse the system."—2 Selected Messages, 288-289.
19 – DRUGS OFTEN
USE MYSTERIOUS NAMES
"This is God’s method: The herbs that grow for the
benefit of man, and the little handful of herbs kept and steeped and
used for sudden ailments, have served tenfold, yes, one hundredfold
better purposes, than all the drugs hidden under mysterious names and
dealt out to the sick."—Letter 59, 1895.
20 – DRUGS HAVE
INTRICATE NAMES
THAT HIDE THEIR
REAL NATURE
"The intricate names given medicines are used to
cover up the matter, so that none will know what is given them as
remedies unless they consult a dictionary."—Medical Ministry, 228.
21 – DRUGS HAVE
LONG NAMES
THAT HIDE THEIR
REAL QUALITIES
"If the physicians are so busy that they cannot treat the sick
outside of the institution, would it not be wiser for all to educate
themselves in the use of simple remedies, than to venture to use drugs,
that are given a long name to hide their real qualities. Why need anyone
be ignorant of God’s remedies,—hot water, fomentations, and cold and hot
compresses. It is important to become familiar with the benefit of
dieting in case of sickness. All should understand what to do
themselves."—Manuscript 86, 1897.
22 – DRUGS HAVE
NAMES
THAT CANNOT BE
UNDERSTOOD
WITHOUT USING A
DICTIONARY
"The intricate names given medicines are used to
cover up the matter, so that none will know what is given them unless
they obtain a dictionary to find out the meaning of these names. . . .
The Lord has given some simple herbs of the field . . . and if every
family were educated in how to use these herbs in case of sickness, much
suffering might be prevented, and no doctor need be called. These
old-fashioned simple herbs, used intelligently, would have recovered
many sick, who have died under drug medication."—Letter 82, 1897.
23 – DRUGS HAVE
PECULIAR NAMES
THAT COMMON
PEOPLE DO NOT UNDERSTAND
"From beginning to end, the crime of tobacco using,
of opium and drug medication, have their origin in perverted knowledge.
It is through plucking and eating of poisonous fruits, and through the
intricacies of names that the common people do not understand, that
thousands and tens of thousands of lives are lost. This great knowledge
supposed by man to be wonderful, God did not mean that men should have.
They are using the poisonous productions that Satan himself has planted
to take the place of the tree of life, whose leaves were for the healing
of the nations. . . . Death mixtures are used that make men mad, and
murder and violence are prevailing everywhere. The time is near when all
these wicked inventions will come to an end. At the last, the passion
for obtaining means by fraud will increase. Theft and robbery will
become more prevalent. The fruit of the tree of knowledge will be freely
eaten."—Letter to S.N. Haskell, 1898.
24 – DRUGS MAY
COME IN BOTTLES
"The drug science has been exalted, but if every bottle that comes
from every such institution were done away with, there would be fewer
invalids in the world today. Drug
medication should never have been introduced into our
institutions. There was no need of this being so, and for this very
reason the Lord would have us establish an institution where He can come
in and where His grace and power can be revealed. ‘I am the resurrection
and the life,’ He declares. . . .
"The true method for healing the sick is to tell them
of the herbs that grow for the benefit of man. . . . True education will
lead us to teach the sick that they need not call in a doctor any more
than they would call in a lawyer. They can themselves administer the
simple herbs if necessary."—Manuscript 105, 1898.
25 – DRUGS ARE
TO BE FOUND IN DRUGSTORES
"Thousands who are afflicted might recover their
health, if, instead of depending upon the drugstore for their life, they
would discard all drugs, and live simply, without using tea, coffee,
liquor, or spices, which irritate the stomach and leave it weak—unable
to digest even simple food without stimulation. The Lord is willing to
let His light shine forth in clear, distinct rays to all who are weak
and feeble."—Medical Ministry, 229.
26 – DRUGS
CANNOT BE DESCRIBED
BY SIMPLE WORDS
"Let the instruction be given in simple words [such
as hot water, charcoal, or catnip]. We have no need to use the many
expressions used by worldly physicians which are so difficult to
understand that they must be interpreted by physicians. These long names
are often used to conceal the character of the drugs being used to
combat disease. We do not need these. Nature’s simple remedies will aid
in recovery without leaving the deadly aftereffects so often felt by
those who use poisonous drugs."—Letter 82, 1908.
27 – DRUGS HAVE
LATIN, NOT ENGLISH, NAMES
"Were I sick, I would just as soon call in a lawyer as a physician
from among general practitioners. I would not touch their nostrums, to
which they give Latin names. I am determined to know, in straight
English, the name of everything that I introduce into my
system."—Manuscript 86, 1897.
28 – DRUGS ARE
PRODUCED BY HUMAN SCIENCE
AND ARE GIVEN
MYSTERIOUS NAMES
"It would have been better if, from the first, all
drugs had been kept out of our sanitariums, and use had been made of
such simple remedies as are found in pure water, pure air, sunlight, and
some of the simple herbs growing in the field. These would be just as
efficacious as the drugs used under mysterious names, and concocted by
human science. And they would leave no injurious effects in the
system."—Manuscript 115, 1903.
29 – DRUGS ARE
PRODUCED BY THE APPROVAL OF THE MEDICAL ASSOCIATION AND ARE GIVEN LONG
NAMES UNINTELLIGIBLE TO COMMON PEOPLE, AND ARE THE OPPOSITE OF GOD’S
SIMPLE REMEDIES WHICH ARE CALLED ‘QUACKERY’
"The medical fraternity, represented to me as [a secret
society such as] Free Masonry, with their long, unintelligible names,
which common people cannot understand, would call the Lord’s
prescriptions for Hezekiah ‘quackery.’ Death was pronounced upon the
king, but he prayed for life, and his prayer was heard. Those who had
the care of him were told to get a bunch of figs and put them on the
sore, and the king was restored. . . . The Lord diverted their minds
from their wonderful mysteries to a simple remedy of nature. There are
lessons for us all in these directions. Young men who are sent to Ann
Arbor to obtain an education which they think will exalt them as supreme
in their treatment of disease by drugs, will find that it will result in
the loss of life rather than restoration to health and strength. These
mixtures place a double taxation upon nature, and in the effort to throw
off the poisons they contain, thousands of persons lose their lives. We
must leave drugs entirely alone, for in using them we introduce an enemy
into the system. I write this because we have to meet this drug
medication in the physicians in this country, and we do not want this
practice as in Battle Creek to steal into our midst as a thief. We want
the door closed against the enemy before the lives of human beings are
imperiled."—Letter 67, 1899. (Ellen White had Loma Linda started in
order to "reform the medical practices of the medical association." But
prior to that time, several of our men went to state universities, such
as the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, in order to obtain a medical
degree so they could practice medicine.)
30 – DRUGS ARE
THE MEDICAL TREATMENT
MARKED OUT BY
THE WORLD
"It is not necessary that our medical missionaries
follow the precise track marked out by medical men of the world. They do
not need to administer drugs to the sick. They do not need to follow the
drug medication in order to have influence in their work. The message
was given me that if they would consecrate themselves to the Lord, if
they would seek to obtain under men ordained of God a thorough knowledge
of their work, the Lord would make them skillful. Connected with the
divine Teacher, they will understand that their dependence is upon God,
and not upon the professedly wise men of the world."—Letter to Elder
J.A. Burden, April 27, 1910.
31 – DRUGS ARE
THE METHOD OF THE MEDICAL PRACTITIONERS THAT WE ARE NOT TO USE
"It is time for the people of God, those who wear the
sign of His kingdom, and whose authority is derived from ‘It is
written,’ to work. The world is the field of our labor, and we are to
strive to give the last message of mercy to the world. Our every action
is being watched with jealous eyes [by those not of our faith]. Be on
guard as physicians. You can serve the Lord in your position by working
with new methods and discarding drugs. As reformers we are to reform the
medical practice, by education toward the light."—Medical Ministry, 125.
32 – DRUGS
PARALYZE NATURE’S EFFORTS TO HEAL
"The feeble and suffering ones must be educated line upon line,
precept upon precept, here a little, and there a little, until they will
have respect for, and live in obedience to the laws that God has made to
control the human organism. Those who sin against knowledge and light,
and resort to the skill of a physician in administering drugs, will be
constantly losing their hold on life. The less there is of drug dosing,
the more favorable will be their recovery to health. Drugs, in the place
of helping nature, are constantly paralyzing her efforts."—Medical
Ministry, 224.
33 – DRUGS GIVE
PRESENT RELIEF,
BUT NEVER CURE
THE DISEASE
"Indulging in eating too frequently, and in too large
quantities, overtaxes the digestive organs, and produces a feverish
state of the system. The blood becomes impure, and then diseases of
various kinds occur. A physician is sent for, who prescribes some drug
which gives present relief, but which does not cure the disease. It may
change the form of the disease, but the real evil is increased tenfold.
Nature was doing her best to rid the system of an accumulation of
impurities, and could she have been left to herself, aided by the common
blessings of heaven, such as pure air and pure water, a speedy and safe
cure could have been effected."—4 Spiritual Gifts, 133.
34 – DRUGS ONLY
CHANGE
THE GENERAL
FEATURES OF THE DISEASE
"Use nature’s remedies—water, sunshine, and fresh
air. Do not use drugs. Drugs never heal; they only change the features
of the disease."—Letter 116, 1903.
35 – DRUGS ONLY
CHANGE THE FORM AND LOCATION
OF THE DISEASE
"Drugs never cure disease. They only change the form and location.
Nature alone is the effectual restorer; and how much better could she
perform her task if left to herself. But this privilege is seldom
allowed her. If crippled nature bears up under the load, and finally
accomplishes in a great measure her double task—and the patient
lives—the credit is given to the physician. But if nature fails in her
effort to expel the poison from the system, and the patient dies, it is
called a wonderful dispensation of Providence. If the patient had taken
a course to relieve overburdened nature in season, and understandingly
used pure soft water, this dispensation of drug mortality might have
been wholly averted. The use of water can accomplish but little, if the
patient does not feel the necessity of also strictly attending to his
diet."—4 Spiritual Gifts, 134.
36 – DRUGS MAY
LATER CAUSE INTENSE SUFFERING
"When drugs are introduced into the system, for a
time they may seem to have a beneficial effect. A change may take place,
but the disease is not cured. It will manifest itself in some other
form. In nature’s efforts to expel the drug from the system, intense
suffering is sometimes caused the patient. And the disease, which the
drug was given to cure, may disappear, but only to reappear in a new
form, such as skin diseases, ulcers, painful diseased joints, and
sometimes in a more deadly form."—4 Spiritual Gifts, 135.
37 – DRUGS ARE A
POISON
WHICH WILL WORK
GREAT HARM LATER
"People need to be taught that drugs do not cure
disease. It is true that they sometimes afford present relief, and the
patient appears to recover as the result of their use. This is because
nature has sufficient vital force to expel the poison and to correct the
conditions that caused the disease. Health is recovered in spite of the
drug. But in most cases the drug only changes the form and location of
the disease. Often the effect of the poison seems to be overcome for a
time, but the results remain in the system, and work great harm at some
later time."—Ministry of Healing 126.
38 – DRUGS LEAVE
BALEFUL EFFECTS
"Experimenting in drugs is a very expensive business. Nothing should be
put into the human system that will leave a baleful influence
behind."—Medical Ministry, 228.
"The simplest remedies may assist nature, and leave no baleful effects
after their use."—Letter 82, 1897.
39 – DRUGS LEAVE A WRETCHED INFLUENCE
ON THE WHOLE BODY
"Every poisonous preparation in the vegetable and mineral kingdoms,
taken into the system, will leave its wretched influence, affecting the
liver and lungs, and deranging the system generally."—4 Spiritual Gifts,
140.
40 – DRUGS ARE POISONS WHICH LEAVE DEADLY AFTEREFFECTS AND DESTROY THE
POWER
OF THE PATIENT TO HELP HIMSELF
"Nature’s simple remedies will aid in recovery without leaving the
deadly after-effects so often felt by those who use poisonous drugs.
They destroy the power of the patient to help himself. This power the
patients are to be taught to exercise by learning to eat simple,
healthful foods—by refusing to overload the stomach with a variety of
foods at one meal. All these things should come into the education of
the sick. Talks should be given showing how to preserve health, how to
shun sickness, how to rest when rest is needed."—Letter 82, 1908.
41 – DRUGS CHANGE THE DISEASE
BECAUSE THEY ARE SLOW POISONS
"Multitudes remain in inexcusable ignorance in regard to the laws of
their being. They are wondering why our race is so feeble, and why so
many die prematurely. Is there not a cause? Physicians who profess to
understand the human organism, prescribe for their patients, and even
for their own dear children and their companions, slow poisons to break
up the disease, or to cure slight indisposition. Surely, they cannot
realize the evil of these things as they were presented before me, or
they could not do thus. The effects of the poison may not be immediately
perceived, but it is doing its work surely in the system, undermining
the constitution, and crippling nature in her efforts. They are seeking
to correct an evil, but produce a far greater one, which is often
incurable."—4 Spiritual Gifts, 137.
42 – DRUGS POISON THE BLOOD
"In our sanitariums, we advocate the use of simple remedies. We
discourage the use of drugs, for they poison the current of the blood.
In these institutions sensible instruction should be given on how to
eat, how to drink, how to dress, and how to live so that the health may
be preserved."—Counsels on Diet and Foods, 303.
43 – DRUGS ONLY WEAKEN THE SYSTEM
"Many act as if health and disease were things entirely independent of
their conduct, and entirely outside their control. . . . Violent attacks
of sickness they believe to be special dispensations of Providence, or
the result of some overruling, mastering power; and they resort to drugs
as a cure for the evil. But the drugs taken to cure the disease weaken
the system."—Medical Ministry, 296-297.
44 – DRUGS DERANGE THE NERVOUS SYSTEM
"Drugs given to stupefy [sedate, tranquilize, anesthetize], whatever
they may be, derange the nervous system."—How to Live, number 3, page
57.
45 – DRUGS ARE A HEALTH DESTROYING INVENTION
"As the matter was laid open before me, and the sad burden of the result
of drug medication, the light was given me that Seventh-day Adventists
should establish health institutions, discarding all these health
destroying inventions, and physicians should treat the sick upon
hygienic principles."—Letter K-82, 1897, dated February 10, 1897.
46 – DRUGS FREQUENTLY PRODUCE
A LINGERING SICKNESS
"Those who are thus dealt with are constantly sick, and constantly
dosing. . . . And yet many are so blinded they do not see that all the
drugs they have taken have not cured them, but made them worse. The drug
invalid lingers on in the world, but is generally peevish, irritable,
always sick, lingering out a miserable existence, and seems to live only
to call into constant exercise the patience of others. Poisonous drugs
have not killed them outright, for nature is loathe to give up her hold
on life. She is unwilling to cease her struggles. Yet these drug takers
are never well. They are always taking cold, which causes extreme
suffering, because of the poison all through their system."—4 Spiritual
Gifts, 137-138.
47 – DRUGS ULTIMATELY BRING A BREAKDOWN
OF VITAL FORCES
"Drugs always have a tendency to break down and destroy vital forces,
and nature becomes so crippled in her efforts, that the invalid dies,
not because he needed to die, but because nature was outraged. If she
had been left alone, she would have put forth her highest efforts to
save life and health."—Medical Ministry, 223.
48 – DRUGS ARE POISONS THAT BRING
LIFELONG ILLNESS TO SOME
AND ADDICTIVE TENDENCIES TO OTHERS
"By the use of poisonous drugs, many bring upon themselves lifelong
illness, and many lives are lost that might be saved by the use of
natural methods of healing. The poisons contained in many so-called
remedies create habits and appetites that mean ruin to both soul and
body."—Ministry of Healing, 126-127.
49 – DRUGS ARE SEEDS OF DEATH SOWN IN THE BODY
"When you understand physiology in its truest sense, your drug bills
will be very much smaller, and finally you will cease to deal out drugs
at all. The physician who depends upon drug medication in his practice,
shows that he does not understand the delicate machinery of the human
organism. He is introducing into the machinery of the system a seed crop
that will never lose its destroying properties throughout the lifetime.
I tell you this because I dare not withhold it. Christ paid too much for
man’s redemption to have his body so ruthlessly treated as it has been
by drug medication."—2 Selected Messages, 283-284.
50 – DRUGS ARE SEEDS PLACED IN THE SYSTEM
THAT WILL BEAR A BITTER HARVEST
"Christ’s remedies cleanse the system. But Satan has tempted man to
introduce into the system that which weakens the human machinery,
clogging and destroying the fine, beautiful arrangements of God. The
drugs administered to the sick do not restore, but destroy. Drugs never
cure. Instead, they place in the system seeds which bear a very bitter
harvest."—2 Selected Messages, 289.
51 – DRUGS DO NOT FREE NATURE
"The question of health reform is not agitated as it must be and will
be. A simple diet and the entire absence of drugs, leaving nature free
to recuperate the wasted energies of the body, would make our
sanitariums far more effectual in restoring the sick to
health."—Healthful Living, 248.
52 – DRUGS FETTER NATURE
"In all their habits they have manifested a recklessness in regard to
health and life. . . . In their distress they send for the doctor, and
trust their bodies in his hands, expecting that he will make them well.
He deals out to them drugs, the nature of which they know nothing, and
in their blind confidence they swallow anything that the doctor may
choose to give. Thus powerful poisons are often administered, which
fetter nature in all her friendly efforts to recover from the abuse the
system has suffered."—How to Live, 49.
53 – DRUGS REQUIRE HEROIC EFFORTS BY THE BODY
"Although the patient may recover, yet the powerful effort nature was
required to make to overcome the poison, injured the constitution and
shortened the life of the patient. There are many who do not die under
the influence of drugs, but there are very many who are left useless
wrecks, hopeless, gloomy, and miserable sufferers, a burden to
themselves and to society."—How to Live, 50.
54 – DRUGS MAY OVERPOWER THE HUMAN SYSTEM
"The mother who has been but slightly indisposed, and who might have
recovered by abstinence from food for a short period, and a cessation
from labor, having quiet and rest, has, instead of doing this, sent for
a physician. And he who should be prepared to understandingly give a few
simple directions, and restriction in diet, and place her upon the right
track. . . . makes the case a grave one, and administers his poisons,
which if he were sick, he would not venture to take himself. The patient
grows worse, and poisonous drugs are more freely administered, until
nature is overpowered in her efforts, and gives up the conflict, and the
mother dies. She was drugged to death. Her system was
poisoned beyond remedy. . . . Heaven wished that mother to live, and her
untimely death dishonored God. The mother’s wrong habits, and her
inattention to the laws of her being, made her sick. And the doctor’s
fashionable poisons, introduced into the system, closed the period of
her existence, and left a helpless, stricken, motherless flock."—How to
Live, 52.
55 – DRUGS KILL, IF NOT IMMEDIATELY
REACTED AGAINST BY THE BODY
"The inclination to use poisonous drugs, which kill if they do not cure,
needs to be guarded against. . . . Many have been treated with drugs and
the result has been death. Our physicians, by practicing drug
medication, have lost many cases that need not have died if they had
left their drugs out of the sickroom."—Medical Ministry, 227-229.
56 – DRUGS HAVE BROUGHT MORE DEATH
TO THIS WORLD THAN HEALING OR HELP
"As to drugs being used in our institutions, it is contrary to the light
which the Lord has been pleased to give. The drugging business has done
more harm to our world and killed more than it has helped or cured. The
light was first given to me why [our health] institutions should be
established, that is, sanitariums were to reform the medical practices
of physicians."—Medical Ministry, 27.
57 – DRUGS ARE THE UNDERLYING CAUSE
OF AN ENORMOUS NUMBER OF DEATHS
"I was shown that more deaths have been caused by drug taking than from
all other causes combined. If there was in the land one physician in the
place of thousands, a vast amount of premature mortality would be
prevented. Multitudes of physicians, and multitudes of drugs, have
cursed the inhabitants of the earth, and have carried thousands and tens
of thousands to untimely graves."—4 Spiritual Gifts, 133.
58 – DRUGS ARE APPRECIATED BY THOSE IN A HURRY:
COMBINING DRUGS ONLY MAKES THEM MORE DEADLY
"The sick are in a hurry to get well, and the friends of the sick are
impatient. They will have medicine, and if they do not feel that
powerful influence upon their systems which their erroneous views lead
them to think they should feel, they impatiently change to another
physician. The change often increases the evil. They go through a course
of medicine equally as dangerous as the first, and more fatal, because
the two treatments do not agree, and the system is poisoned beyond
repair."—Healthful Living, 245.
59 – DRUGS ARE NOT AN INTELLIGENT METHOD
"Let us present the gospel to the sick, connecting Jesus, the Great
Healer, with the simple remedies used; and our living faith [in God and
in those simple remedies] will be answered. But those who come to the
Great Healer must be willing to do His will, to humble their souls, and
confess their sins. . . . Christ declared that He came to recover men’s
lives. This work is to be done by Christ’s followers, and it is to be
done by the most simple means. Families are to be taught how to care for
the sick. . . . In the work of healing, let the physicians work
intelligently, not with drugs, but by following rational methods. Then
let them by the prayer of faith draw upon the power of God to stay the
progress of disease. This will inspire in the suffering ones belief in
Christ and the power of prayer, and it will give them confidence in our
simple methods of treating disease. Such work will be a means of
directing minds to the truth, and will be of great efficiency in the
work of the gospel ministry."—Medical Ministry 29. ["The Lord would have
our physicians cooperate with Him in their treatment of the sick,
showing more faith, and using fewer drugs. Let us rely upon God. Our
faith is feeble, and our hearts remain unchanged. God would have a
change take place."—Medical Ministry, 40.]
60 – DRUGS TAKE LESS THINKING
"Drug medication is to be discarded. On this point the conscience of the
physician must ever be kept tender, and true, and clean. The inclination
to use poisonous drugs, which kill if they do not cure, needs to be
guarded against. Matters have been laid open before me in reference to
the use of drugs. Many have been treated with drugs and the result has
been death. Our physicians, by practicing drug medication, have lost
many cases that need not have died if they had left their drugs out of
the sick room. Fever cases have been lost, when, had the physicians left
off entirely their drug treatment, had they put their wits to work, and
wisely and persistently used the Lord’s own remedies—plenty of air and
water—the patients would have recovered. The reckless use of these
things that should have been discarded has decided the case of the
sick."—Medical Ministry, 227-228.
61 – DRUGS REQUIRE LESS SKILL
"Many physicians are not as thorough and intelligent as they should be
in the practice of their profession. They resort to drugs, when greater
skill and knowledge would teach them a more excellent way. Lives have
been lost which might have been saved if drugs had not been resorted to.
As a rule, the less frequently they are employed, the better the patient
will prosper."—Healthful Living, 247.
62 – DRUGS ARE EXPENSIVE EXPERIMENTS
"Experimenting in drugs is a very expensive business. Paralysis of the
brain and the tongue is often the result, and the victims die an
unnatural death, when, if they had been treated perseveringly, with
unwearied, unrelaxed diligence with hot and cold water, hot compresses,
packs, and dripping sheet, they would be alive today."—Medical Ministry,
228.
63 – DRUGS ARE PRESCRIBED
INSTEAD OF TELLING THE PATIENT THE TRUTH
"There are many, many afflicted in our world with tobacco poison. . . .
The physician, if he is not a novice, can trace the effects back to the
true cause, but he dares not forbid its use, because he indulges in it
himself. Some will in an undecided, halfway manner advise the tobacco
users to take less of this narcotic; but they do not say to them, This
habit is killing you. They prescribe drugs to cure a disease which is
the result of indulging unnatural appetites—and two evils are produced
in the place of removing one."—Medical Ministry, 225.
64 – DRUGS DO NOT REQUIRE PERSONAL RELIGION
IN THE PHYSICIAN
"Keep ever before the suffering sick the compassion and tenderness of
Christ, and awaken their conscience to a belief in His power to relieve
suffering, and lead them to faith and trust in Him, the Great Healer,
and you have gained a soul and ofttimes a life. Therefore, personal
religion for all physicians in the sick room is essential to success in
giving the simple treatment without drugs. He who is a physician and
guardian of the health and body, God would have in every way educated to
learn lessons of the Great Teacher—how to work in Christ and through
Christ to save the souls of the sick."—Medical Ministry, 234-235.
65 – DRUGS ARE NOT HYGIENIC AGENCIES
"Educate people in the laws of life so that they may know how to
preserve health. The efforts actually put forth at present are not
meeting the mind of God. Drug medication is a curse to this enlightened
age. Educate away from drugs. Use them less and less, and depend more
upon hygienic agencies; then nature will respond to God’s
physicians—pure air, pure water, proper exercise, a clear conscience.
Many might recover without one grain of medicine, if they would live out
the laws of health. Drugs need seldom be used. It will require earnest,
patient, protracted effort to establish the work and to carry it forward
upon hygienic principles. But let fervent prayer and faith be combined
with your efforts, and you will succeed. By this work you will be
teaching the patients, and others also, how to take care of themselves
when sick, without resorting to the use of drugs."—Medical Ministry,
259-260.
66 – DRUGS ARE NOT RATIONAL METHODS OF TREATMENTS
"The Lord has shown me that there should be sanitariums near many
important cities. . . . Suitable places must be provided to which we can
bring the sick and suffering away from the cities, who know nothing of
our people, and scarcely anything of Bible truth. Every effort possible
is to be made to show the sick that disease may be cured by rational
methods of treatment, without having recourse to injurious drugs. Let
the sick be separated from harmful surroundings and associations, and
placed in our sanitariums, where they can receive treatment from
Christian nurses and physicians, and thus they may become acquainted,
with the Word of God."—Evangelism, 534-535.
67 – DRUGS ARE NOT SIMPLE AND NATURAL REMEDIES
"In the Saviour’s manner of healing there were lessons for His
disciples. On one occasion He anointed the eyes of a blind man with
clay, and bade him, ‘Go, wash in the pool of Siloam. . . . He went his
way therefore, and washed, and came seeing.’ John 9:7. The cure could be
wrought only by the power of the Great Healer, yet Christ made use of
the simple agencies of nature. While He did not give countenance to drug
medication, He sanctioned the use of simple and natural
remedies."—Desire of Ages, 824.
68 – DRUGS BRING BODILY SUFFERING
AND INFIRMITIES
"She has suffered much with bodily infirmities. . . . She is one of
those whose systems have been poisoned by drugs. By taking these she has
ignorantly made herself what she is."—2 Testimonies, 184.
69 – DRUGS ENFEEBLE THE SYSTEM
AND MAKE IT MORE SUSCEPTIBLE TO DISEASE
"Instead of taking a course to baffle disease, you are petting it and
yielding to its power. You should avoid the use of drugs and carefully
observe the laws of health. If you regard your life, you should eat
plain food, prepared in the simplest manner, and take more physical
exercise. Each member of the family needs the benefits of health reform.
But drugging should be forever abandoned. For while it does not cure any
malady, it enfeebles the system, making it more susceptible to
disease."—5 Testimonies, 311.
70 – DRUGS MAY POISON THE BLOOD
"We have been instructed that in our treatment of the sick we should
discard the use of drugs. . . . There are simple herbs that can be used
for the recovery of the sick, whose effect upon the system is very
different from that of those drugs that poison the blood and endanger
life."—Manuscript 73, 1908.
71 – DRUGS WORK
BY POISONING THE CURRENT OF THE BLOOD
"In our sanitariums, we advocate the use of simple remedies. We
discourage the use of drugs, for they poison the current of the blood.
In these institutions sensible instruction should be given on how to
eat, how to drink, how to dress, and how to live so that the health may
be preserved."—Counsels on Diet and Food, 303.
72 – DRUGS DEAL RUTHLESSLY WITH THE BODY
"There is a terrible account to be rendered to God by men who have so
little regard for human life as to treat the body so ruthlessly in
dealing out their drugs. . . . We are not excusable if through ignorance
we destroy God’s building by taking into our stomachs poisonous drugs
under a variety of names we do not understand. It is our duty to refuse
all such prescriptions. We wish to build a sanitarium [in Australia]
where maladies may be cured by nature’s own provisions, and where the
people may be taught how to treat themselves when sick, where they will
learn to eat temperately of wholesome food, and be educated to refuse
all narcotics—tea, coffee, fermented wines, and stimulants of all
kinds—and to discard the flesh of dead animals."—Temperance, 88-89.
73 – DRUGS CAUSE DISEASE TO DISAPPEAR
—AND LATER REAPPEAR ELSEWHERE
"The liver, heart and brain are frequently affected by drugs, and often
all these organs are burdened with disease, and the unfortunate
subjects, if they live, are invalids for life, wearily dragging out a
miserable existence. How much that poisonous drug cost. If it did not
cost the life, it cost too much. Nature has been crippled in all her
efforts, the whole machinery is out of order; and at a future period in
life, when these fine works which have been injured are to be relied
upon to act a more important part . . . they cannot readily and strongly
perform their labor, and the whole system feels the lack. These organs
which should be in a healthy condition, are enfeebled, the blood becomes
impure. Nature keeps struggling, and the patient suffers with different
ailments, until there is a sudden breaking down in her efforts and death
follows."—4 Spiritual Gifts, 135.
74 – DRUGS LOAD THE BODY WITH POISONS
IT CANNOT EXPEL
"Very many lives have been sacrificed by physicians’ administering drugs
for unknown diseases. . . . Medicine must be administered, experiments
and tests tried to cure the patient of the disease. . . . Nature is
loaded with poisonous drugs which she cannot expel from the system. The
physicians themselves are often convinced that they have used powerful
medicines for a disease which did not exist, and death was the
consequence."—4 Spiritual Gifts, 135-136.
75 – DRUG EFFECTS MAY NOT IMMEDIATELY BE PERCEIVED
"The effects of the poison may not be immediately perceived, but it is
doing its work surely in the system, undermining the constitution, and
crippling nature in her efforts. They are seeking to correct an evil,
but are producing a far greater one, which is often incurable. Those who
are thus dealt with are constantly sick, and constantly dosing. And yet,
if you listen to their conversation, you will often hear them praising
the drugs they have been using, and recommending their use to others,
because they have benefited by their use. It would seem that to such as
can reason from cause to effect, the sallow countenance, the continual
complaints of ailments and general prostration of those who claim to be
benefited, would be sufficient proofs of the health destroying influence
of drugs. . . . And yet many are so blinded they do not see that all the
drugs they are taking have not cured them, but made them worse."—4
Spiritual Gifts, 137.
76 – DRUGS EVENTUALLY CEASE
TO HELP THE SYMPTOMS
"Nothing should be put into the system that will leave a baleful
influence behind. And to carry out the light on this subject, to
practice hygienic treatment, is the reason which has been given me for
establishing sanitariums in various localities. I have been pained when
many [of our]
students have been encouraged to go where they would receive an
education in the use of drugs. The light I have received on the subject
of drugs is altogether different from the use made of them at these
schools or at the sanitariums. We must become enlightened on these
subjects. . . . Many suffering ones not of our faith will come to our
institutions to receive treatment. Those whose health has been ruined by
sinful indulgence, and who have been treated by physicians till the
drugs administered have no effect, will come; and they will be
benefited. The Lord will bless institutions conducted in accordance with
His plans. . . . He will enter the rooms of the sick. He will give
wisdom to the nurses."—Medical Ministry, 228-229.
77 – DRUGS SHOULD NEVER BE USED
IN OUR INSTITUTIONS
"The physician who depends upon drug medication in his practice, shows
that he does not understand the delicate machinery of the human
organism. He is introducing into the system a seed crop that will never
lose its destroying properties throughout the lifetime. . . . Years ago
the Lord revealed to me that institutions should be established treating
the sick without drugs. Man is God’s property, and the ruin that has
been made of the living habitation, the suffering caused by the seeds of
death sown in the human system, are an offense to God."—Medical Ministry
229.
78 – DRUGS ARE A POOR SUBSTITUTE
FOR THE USE OF SIMPLE HERBS
"I have been shown that we should have many more women who can deal with
the diseases of women, many more lady nurses who will treat the sick in
a simple way and without the use of drugs. . . . There are many simple
herbs which, if our nurses would learn the value of, they could use in
the place of drugs, and find very effective."—Letter 90, 1908.
79 – DRUGS ARE NOT FAVORABLE OR NATURAL
TO THE LAWS OF LIFE
"If she [nature] had been left alone, she would have put forth her
highest efforts to save life and health. Nature
wants none of such help as so many claim that they have given her. Lift
off the burdens placed upon her, after the customs of the fashions of
this age, and you will see in many cases nature will right herself. The
use of drugs is not favorable or natural to the laws of life and health.
The drug medication gives nature two burdens to bear, in the place of
one. She has two serious difficulties to overcome, in the place of
one."—Medical Ministry 223.
80 – DRUGS INTERFERE WITH NATURE’S LAWS
"Thousands need to be educated patiently, kindly, tenderly, but
decidedly, that nine-tenths of their complaints are created by their own
course of action. The more they introduce drugs into the system, the
more certainly do they interfere with the laws of nature and bring about
the very difficulties they drug themselves to avoid."—Manuscript 22,
1889.
81 – DRUGS ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE
FOR THE HEALING THAT MAY FOLLOW
"Sick people who take drugs do appear to get well. With some there is
sufficient life force for nature to draw upon to so far expel the poison
from the system that the sick, having a period of rest, recover. But no
credit should be allowed the drugs taken, for they only hindered nature
in her efforts. All the credit should be ascribed to nature’s
restorative powers."—Healthful Living, 244.
82 – DRUGS DO NOT POSSESS CURATIVE POWERS
"The sick themselves, if they would be patient, diet and suffer a
little, and give nature time to rally, would recover much sooner without
the use of any medicine. Nature alone possesses curative powers.
Medicines have no power to cure, but will most generally hinder nature
in her efforts. She, after all, must do the work of restoring."—How to
Live, 70.
83 – DRUGS AFFECT PEOPLE
PHYSICALLY, MENTALLY, AND MORALLY
"Physicians, by administering their drug poisons, have done very much to
increase the depreciation of the race,
physically, mentally, and morally. Everywhere you go you will see
deformity, disease and imbecility, which in very many cases can be
traced directly back to the drug poisons, administered by the hand of a
doctor, as a remedy for some of life’s ills. The so-called remedy has
fearfully proved itself to the patient—by stern suffering experience—to
be far worse than the disease for which the drug was taken. All who
possess common capabilities should understand the wants of their own
system. The philosophy of health should compose one of the important
studies for our children. It is all-important that the human organism be
understood, and then intelligent men and women can be their own
physicians. If the people would reason from cause to effect, and would
follow the light which shines upon them, they would pursue a course
which would insure health, and mortality would be far less. But the
people are too willing to remain in inexcusable ignorance, and trust
their bodies to the doctors, instead of having any special
responsibility in the matter themselves."—Disease and its Causes, 53-54.
84 – DRUGS WEAKEN DIRECTLY,
AND ALSO THROUGH INHERITANCE
"If those who take these drugs were alone the sufferers, the evil would
not be as great. But parents not only sin against themselves in
swallowing drug poisons, but they sin against their children. The
vitiated state of their blood, the poison distributed throughout the
system, the broken constitutions, and various drug diseases—as the
result of drug poisons—are transmitted to their offspring, and left them
as a wretched inheritance, which is another great cause of the
degeneracy of the race."—How to Live, 53.
85 – DRUGS ENDANGER THE WHOLE AFTERLIFE
"Those who make a practice of taking drugs sin against their
intelligence and endanger their whole afterlife. There are herbs that
are harmless, the use of which will tide over many apparently serious
difficulties. But if all would seek to become intelligent in regard to
their bodily necessities, sickness would be rare instead of common. An
ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."—2 Selected Messages,
290-291.
"Special instruction should be given in the art of treating the sick
without the use of poisonous drugs, and in harmony with the light that
God has given. In the treatment of the sick, poisonous drugs need not be
used." —9 Testimonies, 175
"Nature’s simple remedies will aid in recovery without leaving the
deadly aftereffects so often felt by those who use poisonous drugs."
—2 Selected Messages, 281
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